


don't mind it

by zhujungjungting (runswithchopsticks)



Series: spoiled rich kids and their horses [1]
Category: NU'EST, Produce 101 (TV), Wanna One (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Boarding School, Character Study (if you squint), Equestrian, Fluff, Gen, M/M, Social Division, rich kids
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-12
Updated: 2017-11-12
Packaged: 2019-02-01 03:18:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,531
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12696165
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/runswithchopsticks/pseuds/zhujungjungting
Summary: To Jonghyun, his classmates could be vastly different, yet simultaneously completely similar.(or: a look into Jonghyun's school life.)





	don't mind it

_start._

* * *

“Hyah!” Kyulkyung cries, thrusting the handle of the broom she holds in front of her. The tip of it touches Jonghyun on the chest. “Touché,” she says, grinning at him.

“Kyulkyung, should you really be fencing in the tack room?” Jonghyun asks, pointedly. He rubs the rag in his hand against the black leather bridle he holds. “Remember last time? The handle got caught in the row of halters and you ended up pulling all of them down, along with me.”

Kyulkyung abruptly straightens her posture, standing up rigidly and holding the broom next to her side. “I’ll only relent if you accept my challenge, sir,” she replies, grinning.

“Jonghyun is right,” they hear, and when both of them turn around, Kyungwon stands at the doorway. She breezes past them, a saddle cradled in both of her arms. “I don’t think Seokhoon will be too happy if you create a mess like you did last time.” She stalks over, nudging past Jonghyun towards where the saddle stands are.

“Are _you_ really in any place to say that?” Seongwoo asks from his corner. He sits on the only chair in the tack room, slouched back against it with his legs crossed. He’d been scrolling through something on his phone, completely uninterested with whatever Kyulkyung and Jonghyun had been doing.

“I--” Kyungwon begins, her words stumped.

Jonghyun glances between Kyungwon and Seongwoo. The latter had returned to staring down at his phone, but with the silence that greets him, he raises an eyebrow. “You’re lucky your brother is nice enough to work his ass off for both you and him to go here so that you don’t have to.” He snorts.

“...What?” Kyungwon murmurs, dumbfounded.

“Just hurry up and go,” Jonghyun whispers, walking over and nudging her in the arm. Even after a few months, Kyungwon still hadn’t gotten used to the amount of jarring comments and looks she would receive on a regular basis -- especially from Seongwoo.

Jonghyun sees her gulp, nodding faintly and hoisting the saddle in her arms up onto the stand. She looks at Jonghyun, as if she were waiting for him to say something, but when silence is the only thing that greets her, she takes a few steps backwards before hastily turning around and taking her leave.

“What’s your problem?” Jonghyun asks, frowning, when he sees the strands of Kyungwon’s bright brown hair disappear around the doorway.

Seongwoo shrugs. “I have a problem?” he replies, not even bothering to look up from his phone.

Jonghyun rolls his eyes. “Is that anything new?” he retorts.

Seongwoo cracks a grin. “It surprises me that someone like her can speak to someone like you, me, or Kyulkyung like that.”

At the mention of her name, Kyulkyung points the handle of her broom at Seongwoo. “What is it you say of me, sir?” she asks.

Jonghyun just waves her off, pushing the end of her broom to the side. “Just because her family is working class and we’re not doesn’t exactly give you a right to completely disregard her like that. And besides, didn’t you basically grow up with her? I can’t believe that you’re so rude to someone you’ve known for this long.” And when Seongwoo doesn’t reply, seeming as if he didn’t hear Jonghyun at all--but everybody knows that Seongwoo did--Jonghyun continues. “Besides, Seokhoon likes her, and she’s a talented rider. Better than you--” Seongwoo looks up, frowning at Jonghyun, and Jonghyun grins. He’s finally got his attention. “--and me.”

“Her horse is a mutt,” Seongwoo blatantly replies.

Jonghyun snorts. “Not everyone can afford purebred Lipizzaners, you know.”

“Yeah, but I can,” Seongwoo states, sticking out his bottom lip and raising his eyebrows.

At that moment, Dongho sticks his head into the room. “Hey, has anyone seen the broom with the green ribbon on it? I thought I left it next to Moony’s stall, but it’s not there anymore,” he asks.

“Oh, look, mutt number two has appeared,” Seongwoo hums.

Dongho completely disregards his comment. He notices Kyulkyung holding the object he's looking for, and he opens his mouth to speak, only to be interrupted.

“If you would, kind sir, duel me!” Kyulkyung exclaims, grinning, and she jabs the end of her broomstick in Dongho’s direction.

“Just give the damn broom back to him,” Seongwoo mutters. “You’re annoying as hell.”

“Then,” Kyulkyung begins, whipping around to face Seongwoo, her brow poised, “I challenge you to a duel, devil!”

“Jonghyun is right.” Seongwoo frowns. “Don’t fence in the tack room.”

Jonghyun sighs. “Okay, you’ve finally admitted I’m right. So, can you please get your ass up from the chair? It’s there so those of us that’re polishing tack can sit--” he holds up the bridle and rag in his hands, “--and I’m not saying that only because I want to sit down, I’m saying that because that’s what Seokhoon said as well.”

“Can I… just have my broom back, please?” Dongho asks, sheepishly. Kyulkyung smiles at him, walking over and holding the broom out to him.

“Of course, kind sir,” she replies, and Dongho blushes before grabs the broom and disappears.

“Whatever,” Seongwoo mutters, rolling his eyes. He uncrosses his legs and stands up. “I’m going out for a ride. I’ll see you guys later.”

Jonghyun offers him a half-hearted wave while Kyulkyung giddily says, “Okay, bye!”

* * *

“You alright?” Jonghyun breaks off half of his Twix bar and hands it to Kyungwon.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Kyungwon replies, shrugging. “Thanks.” She takes a bite out of her half of the chocolate, chewing silently. When Jonghyun raises his eyebrows at her, she smiles. “I swear, I’m fine, Jonghyun. It’s not the first time Seongwoo has taken jabs at me, after all.”

“Well, no matter what you say, it still confuses the hell out of me why he’s like that to both you and Dongho,” Jonghyun murmurs, staring ahead at him. He sees the students walking past them in the hallway, and lo and behold, there’s Seongwoo’s (ugly) face in the middle of a crowd of boys. Daniel is standing next to him, and when he says something, Seongwoo knuckles him in the head. He’s rude even to his own friends, it seems. “Yeah, like, I know he’s got the money and power complex, but you’d think that he’d at least treat you better than the other so-called ‘poor’ people simply for the fact that he’s known you for a long time,” Jonghyun continues.

“Who knows,” Kyungwon murmurs. She finishes the rest of her chocolate. “You’re just as stumped as me on that one.”

Jonghyun hums in agreement. They sit together in silence, Kyungwon’s back leaning against his arm. She brings her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms around her shins and staring straight ahead. “Hey,” Jonghyun begins, a moment later, “I saw that your saddle’s really worn.”

“I’ve been using the same one ever since I decided I wanted to compete as a hunter,” Kyungwon replies, with a laugh, “and not to mention the fact that I bought it used. It’s an old model Wintec, Jonghyun. I can’t afford brand new Antares or Hermes or Voltaire like you guys.”

Jonghyun smiles sheepishly. “Right,” he murmurs, “well, I mean, if you ever think about purchasing a new one and you need some help, don’t hesitate to ask m--”

“Don’t think that’ll be anytime soon,” Kyungwon interrupts. She rests her chin on her knees, and for some reason, her voice becomes softer. “I’d love to get a new one, believe me, but I don’t think it’ll be easy.”

“Haven’t you and your family been saving?” Jonghyun asks.

“Yeah,” Kyungwon begins, chewing on the tip of her thumb, “except, you know, the industry isn’t doing so well. Did I tell you?”

“What?”

“The sector my parents work in -- it almost got completely eradicated a month or two ago.”

“...What?”

“They nearly got laid off, Jonghyun,” Kyungwon replies, matter-of-factly. She glances over her shoulder, and Jonghyun still looks as shocked as his voice suggested, as if he had no clue that people could be fired in the first place -- after all, if he actually wasn’t aware of that, Kyungwon wouldn’t be surprised. “But somehow they and a few of their coworkers got moved to another sector right before they closed the whole department.”

“That’s pretty lucky,” Jonghyun murmurs.

“Yeah, well--” Kyungwon mumbles, shrugging. She stares off in front of her again. “--that only goes to show how careful you’ve gotta be with your money, because you never know when it’ll disappear.” When Jonghyun doesn’t give her a reply, she laughs. “Sorry, I’m kinda rambling. I don’t exactly expect you to know what I’m talking about.”

“Yeah,” Jonghyun utters, turning his head away. He stares ahead of him, and in the distance, he sees Seongwoo laughing at something Jaehwan just said.

* * *

“Hey,” Jonghyun greets, as he slides into a chair across from Seongwoo and next to Minhyun. Minhyun bumps him in the shoulder with his own. As expected, Seongwoo is tapping away on his phone.

Minhyun grins at the table’s newest occupant. “What’s up?” he asks.

“Same as always, I guess,” Jonghyun hums. “Anyways, why’re you here early? I thought you had lessons until twelve.”

“Yeah, but they shortened all the jumper classes today because the wind is knocking down all the poles, and we can't use the indoor rings because they're running prelims for the freshmen,” Minhyun replies casually. “So I came in early and thought I’d have lunch with my best friend.”

“I’m flattered,” Seongwoo drawls. As expected, he’d been listening in the whole time. Minhyun rolls his eyes.

“Well, I don’t see your lunch anywhere,” Jonghyun points out.

“Yeah, because I wanted to ask what you want. I’ll treat you,” Minhyun replies.

“I don’t need you to pay--” Jonghyun begins, but Minhyun quickly shakes his head.

“I hardly get to eat with you, so let me pay for the both of us.” He stands up and walks away before Jonghyun has any time to respond. Seongwoo leans back onto the back two legs of his chair, raising his eyebrows.

“Really?” he asks.

“What?” Jonghyun replies.

“‘I don’t need you to pay’?” Seongwoo laughs. “Is that any way to treat your Romeo? You’re so rude.”

“Yeah, okay, whatever you say,” Jonghyun mutters, sticking his nose up. “I’m surprised _you_ of all people are lecturing me on how to be a romantic when you can’t even hold down a relationship for more than a week.”

Seongwoo snorts. “That’s because there’s no one here worth more than a week of my time,” he reasons.

“You should just date your money,” Jonghyun teases, with a smile, and Seongwoo cracks a grin at his response.

“Maybe I should,” Seongwoo agrees, “business has been doing lovely recently. Our share values are climbing at a great pace.”

At the mention of his family’s business, Kyungwon’s words come back to Jonghyun’s thoughts. “Hey,” he begins, and Seongwoo raises an eyebrow, “Kyungwon told me her parents nearly got fired a couple of months ago. Do you know anything about that?”

“Why would I?” Seongwoo immediately replies.

“Well, her family kind of works for yours,” Jonghyun states, shrugging. “And I figured that since you know her personally--”

“You talk a lot,” Seongwoo interrupts.

“What the hell does that mean?”

Seongwoo sighs, leaning forward. The two front legs of his chair hit the tile floor with a _clack!,_ and he sets his phone down on the table face-down. “If she worries you so much,” he begins, staring Jonghyun straight in the eye, “then let me tell you you shouldn’t worry.”

“...What?” Jonghyun mumbles.

“Yeah, her parents were lucky enough to not get fired,” Seongwoo begins. He rests his chin on a fist, and his eyes are slightly lidded in an expression of true laziness and uncaring. “But that’s because I told my father not to fire them.”

Jonghyun’s eyes widen, and he feels his lips being to stretch into an ample smile, bits of laughter climbing to the corners of his mouth. Seongwoo notices his change in expression, and he sighs again, rolling his eyes. “Stop looking so disgustingly giddy,” he chides, “I only told my father that because the two old Kangs are efficient workers and have been at the company for a long time. It would only be just that they be spared.”

Jonghyun still laughs anyways, muffling the sounds that tumble out of his lips with his palm. When Minhyun returns with two bowls of soup on a tray, he sees Jonghyun smiling through the crinkle of his eyes, as his mouth is hidden, and he shockingly asks if Seongwoo _actually_ said something funny.

* * *

Jonghyun finds Dongho sitting on the fence around one of the pens later that day. The sleeves of his plaid flannel are rolled up to his elbows, and the cuffs of his jeans and the toes of his boots covered in mud -- actually, it might be dung, now that Jonghyun thinks about it. There’s a piece of straw sticking out of the corner of his mouth, and he stares up at the sunset, chewing on the straw thoughtfully.

“Hey,” Jonghyun greets, leaning his elbows on the side of the fence.

“Hey,” Dongho replies, glancing at him before he faces the sky once again.

“You sound tired,” Jonghyun notes.

Dongho huffs, the softest of laughs slipping out of his lips. “Always,” he replies, and the piece of straw in his mouth bobs up and down as he speaks.

“How was your day?” Jonghyun asks.

“Fine,” Dongho hums, “same as always. Woke up at five in the stinking morning, went to clean dung, hosed down the pens, filled feed and water troughs, then headed in for classes and popped out sometime later for lessons before I came back. And now I'm sitting here, but I'll have to clean some more dung later.”

“I’m sorry,” Jonghyun murmurs.

Dongho laughs, leaning back. For a moment, Jonghyun worries that Dongho is about to fall flat on the ground, but it seems he’s got a stable grip on his own balance. When he laughs, his voice resounds through the air. Of course, Jonghyun hears exhaustion in there, but along with that, there’s bits of vigor. He thinks that Dongho isn’t really laughing at him, but more so at himself. “Nah, you’ve got nothing to be sorry for,” he says, when he’s caught his breath, “I should be the one that’s sorry for complaining to you about cleaning dung, of all things. You’ve probably never had to clean dung in your entire life.”

“Yeah, I haven’t,” Jonghyun replies, smiling as well. “It’s probably a terrible job. It took me some time to get used to the smell of dung; I can’t imagine having to scoop it twice a day.”

“Well, just like you got used to the smell, I got used to scooping it twice a day,” Dongho jokes. He goes back to looking up at the sky, and Jonghyun follows his gaze.

“I talked to Kyungwon today,” Jonghyun notes, after a moment of silence, “after Seongwoo threw the whole ‘you’re lucky your brother is working his ass off for poor scum like you’ thing at her again.”

“Asshole,” Dongho hums wholeheartedly.

“You’re pretty great, you know?” Jonghyun begins, “Doing all that for your sister.” He scrunches his nose. “I don’t know if I like horses enough to want to clean dung for like, thirty of them a day. You must love Kyungwon a lot.”

“Well, what can I say?” Dongho replies, smiling. “Did I tell you about how our neighbor when we were small kids owned two horses? That old lady used to be an avid equestrian when she was younger, but she was too old to ride them herself, so she just let them graze in her backyard. Kyungwon and I were looking through her fence one day when she offered to let us ride them bareback.” When he is greeted with silence and Jonghyun’s interested face staring up at him, he continues. “So yeah, we rode those two horses for several years before the old lady passed away and her brother took the horses back with him to Seoul.”

“Then, how’d you learn how to, uh, ride…” Jonghyun trails off. He’s unsure of what word to use.

“‘Properly’?” Dongho offers.

“...Yeah,” Jonghyun murmurs bashfully.

“Well, mama put up some extra money every month to have Kyungwon and I take lessons,” Dongho explains. “They weren’t too expensive either. A man who’d recently moved here from America was offering them, and since he taught Western, his lessons were relatively cheap, ‘cause you know, no one here in Korea rides Western.”

“ _Western_?” Jonghyun exclaims, raising his eyebrows. “Uh, you mean the riding style where you use one hand to control the reins and your saddle has that horn thing?”

“Yeah,” Dongho confirms, nodding. “That’s why I suck at dressage and hunting and jumping and stuff. Even now, several years later, I can’t ride English well. I don’t know how my sister does it.”

“Well, she’s talented,” Jonghyun reasons. “I don’t think Headmaster Seokhoon would let you two stay here, even with you working, if it weren’t for the fact that Kyungwon is a really good hunter.”

“Ah,” Dongho breathes out, sticking out his lips. The piece of straw is somehow still in his mouth, and Jonghyun watches the end of it dance in the air. It’s the same golden color as the backdrop of the sunset. “That is true.”

At that moment, the watch on Dongho’s arm beeps -- Jonghyun’s about to ask why in the world it’s fastened halfway up his forearm, but Dongho jumps down from the fence at the noise, interrupting Jonghyun’s thoughts. A mild plume of dirt rises up in the air from his landing, and he swipes his palms against each other. The action makes soft clapping noises. “Welp, I gotta start on my evening shift,” Dongho notes. He takes the piece of straw out of his mouth and drops it on the ground before stepping on it, grinding it with the toe of his boot. “Nice talkin’ to ya, Jonghyun.”

“Yeah, definitely,” Jonghyun replies amiably, smiling. “I’ll see you at classes tomorrow, yeah?”

“Of course,” Dongho hums, grinning. He salutes Jonghyun before he turns on his heel, tucking his hands into the pockets of his jeans and walking away.

* * *

“So,” Jonghyun begins, placing the tip of his index finger on Minhyun’s nose.

“This is sure one way to wake up from a nap,” Minhyun says, slowly cracking a single eye open. When Jonghyun’s face fully focuses in his vision, he laughs as he opens his other eye.

Jonghyun huffs. “So, wanna go on a trail ride this weekend? We can eat lunch in that clearing on the south trail.”

“Sure,” Minhyun replies. “Seongwoo coming?”

“Nah,” Jonghyun shakes his head. He sits down on the side of Minhyun’s bed as his friend pushes himself up, rubbing his eyes. His blanket pools down at his waist.

“Just the two of us, then?” Minhyun grins.

“Of course,” Jonghyun hums, “I haven’t gotten to spend time alone with you in a long time.”

At that moment, Jaehwan walks into the room. “What the fuck--” he goes, a toothbrush stuck in his mouth. He’s not wearing anything besides a pair of boxers. “I thought you were about to-- oh, whatever…”

“...Did you just wake up?” Jonghyun asks, slowly.

“Yeah,” Jaehwan mutters. A small dribble of saliva slips its way out of the corner of his lips as he speaks.

“It’s four in the afternoon,” Jonghyun states.

“He wakes up at four in the afternoon,” Minhyun chimes in, and Jaehwan nods as he turns around and proceeds to walk back out the door. “And yes, I know you’re about to mention his classes,” Minhyun adds, when he sees Jonghyun open his mouth, “but he’s just lazy and only gets up in time for riding lessons. Either that, or he’s hungover, I don’t know. I once found him drunk on east wing’s staircase on a Wednesday night and had to forcefully drag him back to our room.”

“Okay, well, if he’s drinking and riding at the same time, remind me to never invite him to ride with me,” Jonghyun laughs.

“His horse is drunk most of the time too,” Minhyun adds, nodding vigorously. “Well, anyways, besides Jaehwan and his intolerant self, does Saturday afternoon sound okay to you?”

“Of course,” Jonghyun replies, and he puts his index finger on Minhyun’s nose once again.

“You need to stop doing that,” Minhyun says, but he doesn’t push Jonghyun’s hand away. “One of these days, I’m going to sneeze and either end up biting your finger or accidentally sticking it up my nose.”

Jonghyun recoils his hand in disgust, and Minhyun falls forward, laughing, his forehead slamming against Jonghyun’s, the impact causing Jonghyun to slide off of the bed. He piles onto the floor with Minhyun’s blanket that he’d ended up grasping in the process.

When Jaehwan walks in a few seconds later and sees Jonghyun tangled on the carpet, he steps on Jonghyun's back without a single care as he walks over to his nightstand, digging around in a drawer for his toothpaste.

* * *

_fin._

**Author's Note:**

> Special thanks to cam/[wildflower](https://archiveofourown.org/users/bangtrashsyd/pseuds/wildflower) for looking over this!


End file.
